Michael Schumacher is a German former racing driver who won seven Formula One world championships. Schumacher entered Formula One with the Jordan racing team in 1991, qualifying seventh in his debut race at the Belgian Grand Prix. [1] [2] Following this race, he was signed by Benetton for the rest of the season. [2] His first Grand Prix win came the following year at the same venue as his debut race. Schumacher won his first Formula One World Championship in 1994, a season in which he won eight races. His victory was controversial, as he was involved in a collision with fellow championship contender Damon Hill at the final race in Adelaide. Both drivers had to retire their cars which resulted in Schumacher securing the championship. [2] [3] He won his second championship the following year, winning nine races, and became the youngest double world champion at the time. [4] [lower-alpha 1]
Schumacher joined Ferrari in 1996. He finished third in the championship, winning three races, in a season dominated by the Williams team. [7] His victory at the Spanish Grand Prix, which Schumacher won by 45 seconds, is noted as one of the greatest Formula One wet weather drives. [8] [9] In the 1997 season, Schumacher won five races but was disqualified from the championship after the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile concluded that he had deliberately collided with Jacques Villeneuve, his championship rival, at the European Grand Prix in Jerez. [10] The following year, he won six races. Schumacher won his third world championship in 2000; the first for a Ferrari driver since 1979. [11] He followed this with four consecutive championships from 2001 to 2004. During the 2001 season, at the Belgian Grand Prix, Schumacher won his 52nd Grand Prix, breaking Alain Prost's record for the most career Grand Prix wins. [lower-alpha 2] [13] His 2002 season, in which he was on the podium in every race, included eleven race victories. The latter broke the record for the most wins in a single season. [4] Schumacher surpassed this with thirteen race victories in 2004. [4] [14] [lower-alpha 3] His final Grand Prix win was at the 2006 Chinese Grand Prix; at the end of that season he retired from Formula One. [2] He came out of retirement and made a return to Formula One racing with Mercedes between 2010 and 2012, this did not result in any further victories. [16]
Schumacher is currently the driver with the second-highest number of victories, having won 91 out of 306 races in his career; [16] the majority of his race victories were for the Ferrari team with 72. He also won 19 races with Benetton. His most successful circuit was Magny-Cours where he won eight times in his career. Schumacher's largest margin of victory was at the 1994 Brazilian Grand Prix, a race in which he lapped the field, and the smallest margin of victory was at the 2000 Canadian Grand Prix when he beat teammate Rubens Barrichello by 0.174 seconds.
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Schumacher won at 22 out of 30 different Grands Prix in which he participated. The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Indian Grand Prix, the Korean Grand Prix, the Luxembourg Grand Prix, the Mexican Grand Prix, the Singapore Grand Prix, the South African Grand Prix and the Turkish Grand Prix are the events he entered and did not win. [109]
Schumacher won at 23 out of 34 different circuits he competed on. The Adelaide Street Circuit, the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the Buddh International Circuit, the Circuit of the Americas, the Donington Park, the Istanbul Park, the Korea International Circuit, the Kyalami Circuit, the Marina Bay Street Circuit, the Valencia Street Circuit and the Yas Marina Circuit are the circuits on which he drove but did not win. [110]
Michael Schumacher is a German former racing driver who competed in Formula One for Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari, and Mercedes. Schumacher has a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles ; at the time of his retirement from the sport in 2012, he also held the records for the most wins (91), pole positions (68), and podium finishes (155)—which have since been broken by Hamilton—while he maintains the record for consecutive Drivers' Championships and number of total fastest laps (77), among others.
Mika Pauli Häkkinen, nicknamed "The Flying Finn", is a Finnish former racing driver. He won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship in 1998 and 1999, both times driving for McLaren. Häkkinen is one of three Formula One drivers from Finland that have won the World Drivers' Championship, and the only one to have done so more than once. He currently works in driver management and is a brand ambassador for various companies.
Damon Graham Devereux Hill, is a British former professional racing driver from England and the 1996 Formula One World Champion. He is the son of Graham Hill, and, along with Nico Rosberg, one of two sons of a Formula One World Champion to also win the title. He started racing on motorbikes in 1981, and after minor success moved on to single-seater racing cars.
Ralf Schumacher is a German former racing driver. He is the younger brother of seven-time Formula One World Champion Michael Schumacher, and the pair are the only siblings to each win Formula One races.
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from 1986 to 2001. The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000, the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for the 2000 and 2001 seasons. In 2002, the team became Renault. The Benetton Formula team was chaired by Alessandro Benetton from 1988 to 1998.
The Hungaroring is a 4.381 km (2.722 mi) motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone wanted a race in the USSR, but a Hungarian friend recommended Budapest. They wanted a street circuit similar to the Circuit de Monaco to be built in the Népliget – Budapest's largest park – but the government decided to build a new circuit just outside the city near a major highway. Construction works started on 1 October 1985. It was built in eight months, less time than any other Formula One circuit. The first race was held on 24 March 1986, in memory of János Drapál, the first Hungarian who won motorcycle Grand Prix races. According to a survey put together by the national tourism office of Hungary, Mogyoród ranks third among Hungarian destinations visited by tourists, behind the Danube Bend area and Lake Balaton, but ahead of Budapest. The circuit has FIA Grade 1 license.
The 1998 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 30 August 1998 at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps; it was the thirteenth race of the 1998 FIA Formula One World Championship. The race was won by Damon Hill driving for the Jordan team, with Hill's teammate Ralf Schumacher finishing in second place and Jean Alesi finishing in third for the Sauber team, taking his 32nd and last podium of his Formula One career.
The 2000 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy on 9 April 2000. It was the third race of the 2000 Formula One World Championship, and the season's first European event. Ferrari's Michael Schumacher won the 62-lap race after starting in second. McLaren's Mika Häkkinen finished second, while teammate David Coulthard finished third.
The 2000 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 27 August 2000 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Francorchamps, Wallonia, Belgium with a crowd of 83,000 spectators. It was the 13th race of the 2000 Formula One World Championship, and the 58th Belgian Grand Prix. McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen won the 44-lap race from pole position. Michael Schumacher finished second in a Ferrari, and Williams driver Ralf Schumacher was third.
The 2004 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 58th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It was the 55th FIA Formula One World Championship, and was contested over eighteen races from 7 March to 24 October 2004.
The 1997 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 51st season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1997 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 9 March and ended on 26 October.
The 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 50th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. The championship commenced on 10 March and ended on 13 October after sixteen races. Two World Championship titles were awarded, one for Drivers and one for Constructors.
The 1995 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 49th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Drivers and the 1995 Formula One World Championship for Constructors, which were contested concurrently over a seventeen-race series that commenced on 26 March and ended on 12 November.
David Marshall Coulthard is a British retired racing driver from Scotland, later turned presenter, commentator and journalist. Nicknamed "DC", he competed in 15 seasons of Formula One between 1994 and 2008, taking 13 Grand Prix victories and 62 podium finishes. He was runner-up in the 2001 championship, driving for McLaren.
There have been 54 Formula One drivers from Germany including three world champions. Michael Schumacher holds many records in F1 including the most world championship titles and the most consecutive titles. In 2008 Sebastian Vettel became the youngest ever driver to win a race and, in 2010, became the youngest world championship winner. In 2016, Nico Rosberg became the third driver from Germany to win the F1 World Drivers' Championship. Nico Hülkenberg is currently the only active German race driver in Formula One.
The Grand Prix racing history of Scuderia Ferrari dates back to 1947. The team is the most successful team in the history of Formula One racing, having contested every World Championship season since 1950, winning 15 Drivers' Championships and 16 Constructors' Championships.